Let Your Heart Hold Fast
by Miss-Rainy-Skies
Summary: In which Ally is a freshman with skid marks on her heart, and Austin is her caffeine addicted, sarcastic new distraction. College AU/Auslly
1. Boy with the Red Bull

**Let Your Heart Hold Fast**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Austin and Ally.**

* * *

Ally Dawson has never thought of herself as a fighter.

But sitting here in her long awaited first year Biology course at a semi-prestigious school she had been waiting to hear from, she realizes that _damn_ she has been through a lot to get here.

First, she had not been expecting acceptance—not because her grades were inadequate or anything, but because her application had been late. She had previously never even entertained the possibility that she'd ever want to leave Miami and go to school anywhere else. However, it seems she is just chock full of surprises lately.

A streak of independence and several impulsive decisions later, she found herself on a plane flying far away from everything she had ever known.

It is good for her to get away from Miami. She can learn how to make new friends, explore who she is in a different landscape. That's why she wanted to do this. Also the fact that she can get away from an ex, who turned out to be one of the biggest assholes on the face of the earth is just an added bonus.

That didn't mean there were no consequences. With little to no time for school preparations and living arrangements, she could only manage to track down a distant aunt who promised to help her find an apartment with cheap rates.

It didn't help that her aunt's house was a two hour transit away to the campus. Having no chance to even set foot on campus before her first day due to the rushed moving process, she also severely underestimated the size of the place.

So went her early morning mayhem of scrambling desperately for maps and directions. Really, the fact that she had still made it on time for her eight AM class is astounding

Boy is she tired.

The sound of a pop can hissing open pulls her from her thoughts. Turning her head to the side, she sees a blond one seat down from her open up a can of Red Bull. Instead of taking a sip directly from the can, he takes the cap off another coffee cup and proceeds to dump the whole thing in there.

Baffled, Ally blinks at him.

He catches her gaze, looks back at the clock hanging close to the professor—they were still only about 12 minutes into the insanely long lecture—then turns to her again, this time mouthing very clearly, ' _I'm gonna die.'_

Then this gentleman don in wrinkled plaid and jeans proceeds to down the entirety of the questionable beverage down his throat in mere seconds.

Her mouth drops in awe. While her brain isn't sure if it's the most hilarious or horrifying thing she's ever seen, a snort escapes her anyways. She turns away, trying to bury her face in her laptop as she attempts to stifle her giggles.

When she turns back to face him, he's looking at her with an easy grin.

Very casually, he slides his backpack over the floor with his feet so that it is closer to her, then the rest of him follows as he's now occupying the previously empty seat beside her. They both stay in their seats dutifully typing notes for a full two minutes before his arms nudges against hers gently.

"I'm Austin," he tells her.

"Ally," she says, giving him a small smile.

And just like that the rest of the lecture seems to go by a little easier.

* * *

They leave the lecture hall together—because, why not?

She should probably thank him for seemingly speeding up time by sitting next to her. All the innocent little brushes of the arm, the coy smiles, the furtive glances he had stolen at her, they definitely did the trick.

"So are you a Science student?" he asks, adjusting the straps on his backpack as they walk out the main building. She shakes her head.

"Nah, business. You a Science student?" He shakes his head back at her, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Arts."

She winces. Everyone knows about the bad blood between the two faculties. He nods in understanding, smirking a little.

"We're enemies."

"You're in Arts and your first class is a Science course?"

"Gotta get those Science credits somehow, right?" Chuckling, he gives her his best fake chipper attitude, complete with a sarcastic swing of the arm. "Actually, not three minutes into Mr. Monotone's lecture—sorry, Dr. Monotone—I thought for sure I was gonna end up dropping it. But now…" He looks at her suggestively. "I may have to reconsider."

She blushes at his bluntness, looking at anywhere but him.

"If you're gonna get used to such an early class, you may wanna try sleeping earlier instead of poisoning yourself every morning."

"You're talking about the Red Bull?"

"Dumped in the coffee."

He chuckles. "It gives you wings."

She scrunches her nose in disgust, launching into a rant of her own. "Do you know how bad energy drinks are for you? How much sugar is in that thing? Together with the coffee you're just begging for a crash! And don't get me started on the addictive pro-"She stops herself when she notices his raised eyebrow and smirk. Sighing, she concludes her little speech short. "I can't even imagine what all that caffeine is doing in your system."

He nods without defending his own actions. "I can hear colors."

She giggles, lightly swatting his arm as they arrive at diverging paths.

"What's your next class?" he asks, turning to look at her.

The brunette glances down at her palm where her day plan had been scrawled hastily. "I have Econ by the old annex."

He holds his smile though his lip slightly quirks downward. "I guess this is where we part ways."

She gives him a professional nod of the head, brushing some bangs behind her ear. "It was very nice meeting you Austin."

He mirrors her nod, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Or I can walk you."

Tilting her head, she thinks this over. First day of class in a new city and already this tall blond, admittedly cute stranger is willing to go out of his way to walk her. His notion makes it very clear that the choice is entirely up to her. But taking a closer inspection at this boy with puppy dog eyes all hyped up on sunshine and caffeine, she realizes the danger behind boys with tan skin and kind smiles. They have the potential to leave skid marks. And her heart is still a little sore from her last misadventure.

Whatever he is, it is not what she needs right now. So she decides to let him go.

"Nah, you should go to your class." Looking down she nudges at his feet with her shoes in a semi-affectionate, but not too affectionate manner. He pauses and she can feel his gaze on her for a few brief seconds before he ruffles her hair.

"Well I will see you later then Ally." She looks up in time to see him give her a salute and a flirty grin before turning the other direction.

So maybe he isn't the best thing for her by a long shot. Still, she resigns herself to admitting that she may have a little crush on her new Biology buddy.

* * *

After an entire day navigating around the huge campus, it's safe to say Ally feels fully qualified to be a maze runner now.

Running from course to course trying not to be late can be quite draining on a person. The last thing she wants to do is hop onto the crowded bus for two hours. Sighing, she pulls her phone from her pocket to take it off silent. Her screen flashes with two missed calls.

Squinting her eyes in confusion, she redials her aunt.

"Ally! Good!"

"Hey Au—"

"I just found the perfect place for you."

Her heart rate picks up. The first real excitement she's felt in ages. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah! It's about a twenty five minute walking distance from campus, or if you get a bike, it's only ten minutes. The rent is cheap since you'll be splitting it, and—"

Relief courses through her and finally, everything seems to be falling into place. "That sounds so great! Thank you Aunt Cath!"

"No problem, dear! He's happy to let you move in right away. I was thinking—since you don't have that much luggage to begin with, you can just meet me there and I can drop off your bags so tomorrow, you won't even have to take the awful transit. The place is on—"

"Wait, he?" Her smile falters.

"Oh yes, your roommate is a guy, but I've already talked to him, and he's a perfectly pleasant fellow. I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

She stares off into the distance, contemplating this information. All the Dateline specials she's watched should warn her from doing something like this, but then she thinks back to the long crowded wait line at the bus stop, the hours of standing squished with hundreds of other students. Backpacks in her face, her own backpack like lead sinking her into an abyss of nothingness.

 _Try new thing, try new things,_ she chants to herself.

She forces a smile through gritted teeth. "That sounds great, Aunt Cath. Just text me the address and I'll see you there."

When she hangs up, she is lightheaded.

* * *

The trudge up the twelve flights of stairs had really kicked the wind out of her. She tries to convince herself it's because she's carrying the extra weight of her suitcase, though she knows she could stand to work out more. Stupid elevator.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, she looks down the hall for a quick inspection. The floors were marble instead of carpet, which she likes. There also didn't seem to be anything too spotty or suspicious in sight. All the doors were neat, clean, and give off the vibe that everybody minds their own business. The outside of the building also seems pretty well maintained.

Nodding her head, she gives this place a mental thumbs up. She moves back to grip her suitcase when the sound of doors opening distracts her enough so that she ends up knocking her suitcase over.

"Ally?" Two male voices echo. Her hands still for a moment as she wonders if she's gone delusional. Because she could have sworn there were two voices calling her name. When she swivels her head to the left her eyes bulge when she sees Austin with a hand on the knob of a door—a door which happens to display the numbers of the apartment room she is currently looking for.

Next, turning her head to the right, across the hall from Austin, she can actually feel her soul leaving her mortal body as her gaze settles in on familiar dark brown hair and deeps eyes, all the notable features of a certain ex boyfriend she's not ready to see again.

And right there in the middle of a marble hallway, clutching at her pathetic suitcase of belongings, is how Ally found herself in the worst three-way standoff in history.

* * *

 **A/N: It's been a while, but I am back with a multi chapter story!**

 **Almost everything aside from the romance will be taken from my own first year university experience. I feel like I need to document my semi-tame adventures before the summer ends and I have find myself back in that admittedly awesome hellhole.**


	2. Spaghetti & Meatballs

Ally opens and closes her mouth several times at an understandable loss for who to address first. The gears turning frantically in her brain finally comes to a conclusive halt altogether.

"Ethan?" she squeaks, blinking at an alarming rate

"Ally, what are you doing here?" The brunette scratches his head, eyes narrowing in disbelief. "I haven't seen you since… since you said you never wanted to see me again."

Silence befalls the ill fated trio.

Finally understanding the situation, Austin awkwardly moves to shut the door. "I'm just gonna be… not here." But the door doesn't close all the way, and Ally has an alarming suspicion he can still hear the details of the all too intimate talk she doesn't want to have.

She tries to speak. Her throat constricts in a painful manner. "I am—I mean, I'm moving in here. What are you doing here?"

It's a stupid question and she's ninety percent sure she won't like the answer to the question, but she asks it anyways out of sheer desperation.

" _I've_ moved in here." It's spoken in a quiet voice, guiltily, as if confessing to a crime. "I thought you'd still be in Miami. I honestly had no idea."

A deep breath in, a deep breath out. She finds her words.

"Okay, so I guess we're gonna be hall mates." It takes everything in her for her voice to remain neutral.

She refuses to make a scene, refuses to let him see how much he had affected her. She is going to play indifferent if it kills her, though it just might.

He takes a step towards her, features sagging in what seems to be defeat. "Ally, please—"

"I have things to unpack. I'll see you around." She turns around, bending down to retrieve her fallen suitcase, taking much longer than necessary while doing so.

Finally she hears a sigh and what she knows to be the sound of his door shutting.

Only when the lock clicks does she realize she doesn't feel relief that comes with a drama free confrontation. Perhaps what she had at least wanted out of the failed relationship was a huge blowout, an eruption of passion and fury; instead all she got were aloof goodbyes, and a frosty exchange.

Exhaling quietly through her mouth, she rises and grabs a hold of the knob to Austin's—or now their—apartment.

The door cracks right open confirming her suspicions that he had been listening the entire time

"Hey," he says a bit too cheerily, as if he hadn't heard anything that happened in the hallway.

She bites down on her lip, exhausted from every aspect of the day she just lived.

He coughs. "So what—"

She halts him immediately, palm stuck out for emphasis. "Don't even ask. I don't want to think about it."

He's silent for a moment and she thinks he's going to respect her wishes, he of course goes a completely different way.

"Bad breakup, right?" He scoffs at his own question. "Well obviously, but how did it happen?"

Ally ignores him. Her face crumples to form a grimace from all the stress. "I can't believe he lives across the hall."

"Welcome to the building by the way."

The only response he gets is a glare.

"I know you're probably upset," he murmurs softly, giving her a genuine look of sympathy. His doleful features however, quickly dissolve into a blinding smile. "But can I just say, what are the chances?"

She gives in and offers him a weak smile, turning to survey the place she would be occupying for at least the rest of the year. It seems to be a standard two bedroom apartment with the kitchen and dining room partially combined. The walls are white and furniture scarce. At least the place is clean.

Leaning against the wall to her left is a mountain bike. The bike is quite tall, much too high for someone of her stature to ever hope of riding. Looking back at him, her eyes immediately jump to his long legs before settling on his distracted gaze.

His eyes rest on her luggage. "Is this the only bag you have?"

She brushes some bangs out of her eyes and rests her hand against her cheek. She had completely forgotten to retrieve the rest in her haste to get away from her ex.

"There are three more downstairs. The elevator is broken… I hope nobody took anything."

He brushes past her to the door. "Well I'll you bring them up, come on."

It takes Austin carrying two bags at the same time and Ally huffing and puffing with just one to get all three upstairs.

Finally arriving back to the apartment, Austin stretches his shoulders before cracking his neck. "Why was one so much heavier than the other one?"

Ally—who is crouching down now— leans her head against the luggage she just carried in fatigue. "I have books in them."

He whips his head over at an alarming rate. "You already paid for textbooks?"

An innocent glance upwards. "No, these are filled with novels."

"Oh my god," he mutters, shaking his head. "I'm living with a nerd."

She dismisses his comment and gets up, careful to step over the bags sprawled around their apartment floor to get to the kitchen.

"That was exhausting. Do you have anything to drink?"

"Well yeah, but—"

Opening the fridge, she makes a horrifying discovery.

Red Bull, dozens of cans of Red Bull, filling every crack and crevice like beer at a freshmen frat party. She is frozen in shock.

"Are you serious?"

He walks up next to her, surveying his doing. "You can say what you like, but when midterm season comes around I better not see you stealing from my stash."

"Don't worry about it," she says, beginning to rub her temples in anticipation of the migraine that is sure to come. Taking a breath, the weight of situation fully settles in. She is gonna be living here. She's miles and miles away from home living with a stranger whose fridge looks like it was stocked by Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.

She could be at home, talking on the phone with her best friend Trish while eating spaghetti her dad made, not to mention being far away from her ex. She may even be attending the college she had her eye on for forever before the wild streak in her went berserk ruined everything.

She feels his hand on her shoulder.

"You know what you need?"

"Please don't say Red Bull."

"Close… alcohol." He waggles his eyebrows at her in a manner way too over the top to be suggestive, and she laughs harder than she means to.

"I'm still underage," she admits. "Besides do you know what alcohol does? The altered neurotransmitters change our brain chemistry and sometimes even—"

He shuts the fridge abruptly, not even listening to her anymore. "You know way too much crazy trivia."

"It was in the biology lesson! We both attended it. They talked about the different effects that everyday drinks have in your body. This was just today!"

"If you don't recall, I was too occupied trying to get your constant attention," he says shamelessly, shrugging his shoulder in a 'can't be bothered' manner.

She looks down, trying to stop her cheeks from tinting red. She thinks about punching him for making her feel so flustered when she's already so tired and cranky; instead she just shoves at his shoulder lamely.

"Anyways, I haven't really stocked up on the food since I've moved here." He gestures to the recently closed fridge for evidence. "Do you want to grab something to eat?"

"Like some fast food? I think a saw a Wendy's somewhere close on the bus ride here."

"I mean like a restaurant." He laces his hands together in front of him, looking adorable. "You know, like a celebration of starting college? And for being roommates."

"Oh, so like real dinner." She doesn't know why she's so surprised over a friendly invite. Perhaps it's purely because it's been so long since she's sat down for a meal across someone else who wasn't family or an old friend—or someone who wasn't her ex. The last thought gives her the final nudge forward. "Yeah, okay. That sounds fun."

His face lights up, looking like such an excited kid she knows she can't possibly withdraw her offer even if she wants to.

"Just wait, I hear they have the best spaghetti!"

* * *

The restaurant is right across the street from where their apartment happened to be. This discovery is so convenient, it almost justifies moving all the way here for her. Of course they both order two big plates of spaghetti with meatballs.

As soon as the waiter leaves with their menus Ally clears her throat. "So arts huh, anything specific?"

Austin closes the dessert menu, pushing it aside. "I'm just in general arts for the first year, but I'm hoping to transfer into music."

"You're a music person? Cool!" She can't hide the excitement in her voice. "What do you play?"

"Uh, a bit of everything, some guitar, piano, drums, trumpet and I'm trying to learn violin too."

She takes a sip of her water, eyes sparkling. "Wow, that's amazing."

He leans back, smirking when he realizes he's impressed her. "What about you?"

"Uh, I'm just in first year general business. My dad owns a music store so he thought I should study something practical that would help the business. I also play some piano." She shrugs picking up and twirling her fork, a habit she picked up whenever she feels insecure.

"A music store? That's awesome!" His grin is so wide she forgets what she was ever nervous about. He subconsciously mirrors her actions, also picking up the fork beside him. "You know, if the two of us pool our money together, we could invest in a piano for our apartment."

"If we're not broke after buying textbooks."

"In that case let's just get a wind chime with what little pennies we have left."

Ally smiles at him as the waiter serves up their food.

He takes a big bite of spaghetti. Tomato sauce makes its way clumsily along the surface of his countenance as he scoops up even more, mouth full as he converses casually. "So you worked at your dad's music store then."

"I did. I also worked at a diner when I was picking up extra shifts for college." She purses her lips as if unsure whether or not to delve further. "It's um… it's where I met Ethan." She can hear his chewing stop and feel curious eyes bore into her as her fork pricks at a large meatball.

"I assume this is before you informed him that you never wanted to see him again," he inquires sarcastically when he realizes she isn't going to go into the story without a proper nudge.

"I knew you were listening," she says, raking in a small bite of spaghetti herself. "No, he was nice and sweet at first. We just sort of slowly eased into being a couple. People knew we were together and stuff but we never really went beyond dinner dates and goodnight kisses. But I had fun and I really liked him." She looks down at her lap.

His brows furrowed apologetically. "Did he go out with another girl?"

She sighs, distractedly flattening her hair with one hand. "On Valentine's day he asked me to cover for him at the restaurant."

Austin's gaze widens. "Don't tell me you covered his shift." He put down his fork to sip at his water, not caring that he sounds like a middle aged suburban mom drinking red wine and gossiping about needless neighborhood drama. She remains quiet, suddenly fascinated by her food. "Ally, _no_."

"I didn't know he would be taking out another girl!" she admits, hands shooting up in a defensive manner. "I thought since the shift was from ten to four, he needed time to plan a special dinner or something… so I took it." She sighs dramatically, palming her face. "Only after did I hear he was on a date with another girl. I just felt really stupid afterwards."

"Oh man," Austin says. He reaches a hand across the table and tries to pat her on the shoulder. It just comes across as awkward and uncomfortable for the both of them given how far away they were from each other. "That really sucks. I can't believe he didn't even break up with you first." He takes another drink of his water as she rolls her eyes.

"Actually apparently the text he sent me didn't deliver. So he thought we were already broken up."

He laughs loudly, almost snorting out the water in his mouth. Part of her is miffed he's laughing at her all too personal pain yet all she can imagine is how his laugh will sound resonating off the kitchen and the dining room they now share. With the current living arrangements, soon she will be so used to the sound of his laughter she won't even bat an eyelash. The idea brings her a sense of twisted comfort.

He collects himself long enough to lean forward and deliver a serious sentiment. "We should egg his building."

"We live in the same building."

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made for retribution."

She shakes her head. "You're crazy."

He beams at her through lidded eyes still sparkling with lunacy as he raises a glass. "You don't need to worry about him. This is college now. Here's to real relationships, and badass friendships like ours."

When they clink glasses she has the all too optimistic hope that maybe things will be okay after all.

* * *

"I had fun tonight," he says to her that night as he locks up the front door.

"Me too," she replies. She begins digging through her luggage for a change of clothes.

He walks past her, swooping down and tugging the remainders of her luggage down the hall to what she assumes will be her room when he halts, suddenly looking at her very seriously.

"We probably shouldn't get involved romantically since we'll be living together." His voice is so even, it's as if he is discussing a slight change in weather.

Ally nods eagerly, both surprised he's wiser than she initially imagined and slightly caught off guard for the randomness of the statement. She returns to her task of looking for her nightgown when she realizes he's still there staring.

Glancing back at him, she witnesses him giving her a thoughtful look over. There may have even been a tinge of what could be disappointment in his eyes when a tired grin graces his lips.

"It's really too bad, you were quite a cute one too."

Then he resumes trudging down the hallway and she can blame only the spaghetti and exhaustion for his questionable proclamation that has sent her mind reeling.


End file.
